Apple iPhone 6 Plus vs. Motorola Nexus 6: Specs and Features

Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus provides an incredible camera and the best LCD screen of any smartphone to date, but the Motorola Nexus 6 wins in our spec shootout contest.

Google’s new Nexus 6 announcement allows us to do what we love here at Inferse: bring another spec shootout to you, our readers.

In the spirit of the new announcement, we’d like to extend a personal congratulations to Google as the company releases two more products but with greater carrier availability than ever before. We’re sure that carrier availability is the key to getting Google’s name out there to those who’ve never purchased a Google device before.

It may seem weird to some, but there’re a number of average consumers who’ve never heard of Google making phones. There’re a number of customers we’ve talked to this week that’ve never heard of the Nexus line before. A number of average customers who use smartphones don’t know that Google owns Android, or even that Google owns YouTube.

As of the moment, however, we’re pitting Google’s Nexus 6 against Apple’s newest and largest smartphone to date, the iPhone 6 Plus.

Can Google’s first phablet overrun Apple’s latest and greatest? We won’t prolong the suspense any longer.

Dimensions and Weight

The iPhone 6 Plus proves to be thinner than the Motorola Nexus 6 (7.1mm vs. 10.6mm, respectively) and has a smaller display than the Nexus 6 (77.8mm vs. 82.98mm). Interestingly enough, the Nexus 6 is taller than the iPhone 6 Plus (159.26 vs. 158.1). The iPhone 6 Plus also proves to be easier to hold, weighing 12 grams less than the Nexus 6 (172g vs. 184g).

In the dimensions and weight category, the iPhone 6 Plus scores the win for its thinness and lightness against the Motorola Nexus 6.

Display

The iPhone 6 Plus features a 5.5-inch liquid crystal display (LCD screen) that boasts a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080p (401ppi). The Motorola Nexus 6, on the other hand, boasts a 5.96-inch display with a Quad HD screen resolution of 2,560 x 1,440p (493ppi).

The Nexus 6 proves to be the winner here in both its display size (5.96 inches vs. 5.5 inches) as well as its screen resolution (2,560 x 1,440p of the Nexus 6 vs. the 1,920 x 1080p of the iPhone 6 Plus). Keep in mind that the AMOLED display will prove to provide colors that will pop on the Nexus 6. We’ve received no word as to how the Nexus 6 stacks up against the iPhone 6 Plus’s award-winning LCD screen. When we receive word, you’ll be the first to know.

Processor and Memory

The iPhone 6 Plus features a 1.3Ghz, dual-core, 64-bit A8 processor with an M8 motion coprocessor and less than 1GB of random access memory (RAM), something around 957MB. The Motorola Nexus 6, on the other hand, features a 2.7Ghz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM.

The iPhone 6 Plus uses two processors, one being the dual-core processor and the other being the motion coprocessor that analyzes the fitness and gaming data. Google’s Motorola Nexus 6 relies on one quad-core processor with only four cores (only two processors can operate at once), but its clocked speed (2.7Ghz vs. 1.3Ghz) is twice that of the iPhone 6 Plus.

As for the internal memory storage, Google’s Motorola Nexus 6 features either 32GB or 64GB of onboard memory storage, while the iPhone 6 Plus provides 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of onboard memory storage. Neither the Motorola Nexus 6 nor the iPhone 6 Plus provide a microSD card slot for memory storage expansion, so keep that in mind if you purchase either device in the near future.

We’ll give the win here to the Motorola Nexus 6, as its clocked speed, quad-core processor (that, by the way, has a 64-bit chip to match Apple’s 64-bit chip), and double memory storage (32GB base storage for the Nexus 6 vs. 16GB base storage for the iPhone 6 Plus) when compared to Apple’s base 16GB model lets the Nexus 6 outrun the iPhone 6 Plus. Unlike the iPhone 6 Plus, Google’s Motorola Nexus 6 provides 3GB of RAM that’ll take multitasking to a whole new level. There’s not much multitasking capability inside of the iPhone 6 Plus, considering that it features less than 1GB of free RAM out of the box.

Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus may allow less light into the camera than the Nexus 6, but Google’s LG Nexus 5 camera (at 8MP) wasn’t impressive in the least – which means that, unless Google’s camera has dramatically changed in every way, we’re betting that, numbers excepted, Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus camera will prove hard to beat in this contest. Google’s numbers win on the sheet, however, but this is one of those times where we just may have to hold the winner declaration until the Motorola Nexus 6 is placed against the iPhone 6 Plus in camera shootout contests.

Battery and Battery Life

The iPhone 6 Plus features a 2,915mAh battery that Apple says can provide up to 12 hours of Wi-Fi, LTE, and 3G browsing, 14 hours of video playback, 24 hours of 3G talk time, and 80 hours of audio playback. The Motorola Nexus 6, on the other hand, features a 3,220mAh battery and provides 9.5 hours of Wi-Fi, 10 hours of LTE, 10 hours of video playback, and 24 hours of talk time.
With the exception of talk time, around 24 hours for both smartphones, the iPhone 6 Plus wins in the battery category with more Wi-Fi, LTE, and video playback than the Motorola Nexus 6.

It may seem strange to some that Apple’s 2,915mAh battery in the iPhone 6 Plus has better battery life than that of the Nexus 6, but there are at least two reasons to explain this puzzling mystery. First, Apple optimizes its devices (a fancy way of saying that the company alters battery performance) so that you get more juice out of your battery. Next, Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus uses a Full HD display instead of a Quad HD display like the Nexus 6 – which means that battery life, with the iPhone 6 Plus’s being rather close to the Nexus 6, will prove to be the longer-lasting battery.

Despite the iPhone 6 Plus win in the category of battery life, however, regardless of Google/Motorola’s larger battery (3,220mAh), we can say a positive word about Google: the company’s new Android 5.0 Lollipop update will provide Nexus 6 users with an additional 90 minutes of battery life in a new battery-saving mode that’s a key feature of Android’s major OS update. With that said, you may find that your LTE runs for 11.5 hours instead of 10, for example – so there’s some relief, no matter how small.

Imagine how much battery life Nexus 6 owners could’ve had if Google hadn’t tried to “keep up with the big boys” in the Quad HD display contest?

Price

The iPhone 6 Plus price starts at $800 for the 16GB model, as opposed to $649 for the regular iPhone 6 model. Google’s Motorola Nexus 6, on the other hand, provides 32GB of internal memory storage at the starting price of Apple’s regular iPhone 6 – which means that you’re getting a phablet-sized device with a wider display, better cameras, faster processor, and the best of Android updates for $150 less than Apple’s new phablet.

In the end, we can’t see why a larger display with a brighter screen resolution costs $800 (although we’re always aware of Apple’s desire for its profit), and, with a comparable experience that matches Apple’s in terms of a no-skin layout, the Motorola Nexus 6 is the better device for the price.

Conclusion

In the four categories we’ve examined above, the Motorola Nexus 6 wins by its numbers on paper: bigger battery, larger front and back cameras with a better photo aperture, bigger processor with RAM, wider display with a better screen resolution, and more internal memory storage at the same price as the lower-priced iPhone 6.

At the same time, however, we believe that a 5.96-inch display is simply too large for most consumers, and many will find the display size to be a turnoff when it comes to deciding between devices. Google could’ve provided a 5.3-inch display, for example, and appealed to a large number of consumers who, despite their skepticism over 5+-inch displays, would’ve given the device a chance. Other Android manufacturers have received criticism for their large, what many call “unwieldy” displays, and we don’t see Google’s Nexus 6 being received in any better fashion.

What Google can be applauded for, however, is the fact that the Motorola Nexus 6 will appear on all four major carriers in the US, and even regional carrier US Cellular will carry the device. The Motorola Nexus 6 is the first Google Nexus device to arrive at all major carriers, and we hope Google will continue to release the device on all major national carriers in the years to come.

In the end, we feel that the display size, camera, battery, and familiarity with Android/iOS will determine which device you purchase. Neither device has expandable memory storage, though Google does offer its unlimited photo cloud storage as opposed to the 5GB only of free iCloud Drive storage (you’ll pay for more). Android will certainly gain a battery saving mode of its own with Android 5.0 Lollipop, but Apple’s already added a grayscale mode setting in iOS 8 that’ll also extend your battery life.